Ballinbreich Castle, Fife
Photo © Jim Bain, 24 November 2005
Ballinbreich Castle, Fife
Photo © Jim Bain, 24 November
2005
Ballinbreich Castle dates from the mid to late 1300s with major extensions in the mid 1500s. Allowed to fall into decay from the late 1800s onwards as the owner’s interests moved North.
-- Near the western extremity of the parish of Flisk are the ruins of the ancient
castle of Ballinbreich, seated on an eminence overlooking the river, and surrounded
with a plantation; it was for many ages the residence of the earls of Rothes,
of whom Andrew, the fourth earl, was buried in the old church. Being, however,
deserted by that family, the castle was sold, together with the adjoining lands,
and has been suffered to fall into decay. The only remains are, part of the
walls, of red sandstone, which appear to have inclosed an area 150 feet in length
and seventy feet in width, and some of the ancient timber, of which two remarkably
fine chesnut-trees have been preserved. Near the castle, and within the grounds,
is a spot called Chapel Hill, said to have been the site of some religious building,
of which the foundations may with difficulty be traced. There are also slight
remains of another chapel, in Flisk wood, consisting of low walls; but whether
this building or the ruin near the castle is referred to in the enumeration
of the parishes of Fife, in which this parish is designated "Flisk cum
Capella," is uncertain. Several stone coffins of rude form, containing
urns in which were burnt bones, were a few years since discovered on the farms
of East Flisk and Belhelvie; burnt bones were also found in a cairn on the summit
of a mount, on Fliskmill farm; and on Fliskmill hill are some stones called
St. Muggin's Seat. Silver half-crowns, shillings, and sixpences, coined in the
reign of Edward III., have been also found on the lands of East Flisk. The Rev.
John Wemyss, principal of St. Leonard's College, St. Andrew's, in 1592; and
the Rev. John Fleming, D.D., author of the Philosophy of Zoology and History
of British Animals, and professor of natural philosophy in King's College, Aberdeen,
in 1832, were ministers of this parish.
From: 'Fillan's, St - Forfarshire', A Topographical Dictionary of Scotland (1846),
pp. 429-441.--
-- BALLINBREICH CASTLE, FIFESHIRE,
Occupies a strong situation on the right bank of the Firth of Tay. It originally consisted of a small keep set upon the south wall of a great courtyard or enclosure of an oblong shape, measuring about 160 feet by 90 feet. The keep projected beyond the courtyard walls towards the south. The remains of a round arched doorway in the portion of the enclosing wall towards the east indicate the original entrance to the courtyard on the landward side. There was probably a similar space between the keep and the west angle of the enceinte. At the opposite or north-west corner of the enclosure,, and at a lower level (owing to the considerable slope of the ground), was the water entrance, about 8 feet above the ground. The double splay of one of the jambs of this doorway, with moulded cap and base, are imbedded in the wall. The west curtain wall projects about 5 feet beyond the line of this doorway, and it evidently projected further, and formed part of a tower of defence on this, the river side of the castle. This wall is about 20 feet high and 6 feet 6 inches thick. About the centre of this curtain was a postern, but it was built up during the subsequent alterations.
A turnpike stair gave access to the walls on the east side. In the south wall of the original keep, and in the upper floor, are the remains of sedilia divided into three pointed arches, which had shafts with caps at each angle, and probably ornamental brackets under the centre imposts. The sedilia have quite an ecclesiastical appearance, which may be accounted for from the proximity of Lindores Abbey, about two miles farther up the river, and Balmerino, a few miles farther down.
The courtyard seems to have been divided into an outer and inner bailey by a wall running from east to west, on the line of the present northern staircase. The courtyard is on the level of the surrounding ground up to this wall, and from thence to the outer wall and on to the river, a distance of about twenty yards, the ground slopes rapidly.
The castle had considerable protection on its east and west sides respectively, from deep ravines running down to the river, while on the south side it was perfectly open, unless it was protected by a ditch, all traces of which (if it ever existed) have disappeared.
From the size of the courtyard and thickness of the walls, and from the style of the sedilia and the other details, we think there can be no doubt but that this castle belongs originally to the fourteenth century, but as the more important of the existing buildings belong to the sixteenth century, we have described it along with the castles of the Fourth Period.
In the sixteenth century the keep underwent very considerable alteration, and extensive buildings were erected against the inside of the western curtain,, while the angles at the west and east of the original keep were included within the castle and occupied with buildings. The land entrance was then changed to the east side, where an arched entrance and gatehouse similar to those at Castle Campbell were built. These alterations probably took place in the castle about 1572, as we were informed that a stone with this date, and the letters A. E. R. (Andrew, fifth Earl of Rothes), was taken from above this doorway, but is now apparently lost.
The chief alterations and additions, however, appear, from their style which is of an advanced Renaissance order, to belong to a somewhat later period.
During these alterations the keep was heightened. The old parapet corbels, which are left on the east and north sides, show its original height. Its west wall was also taken down, and the building. continued to the line of the west curtain wall, while internally it seems to have been entirely gutted. At the south-west angle, and above the cellar floor, which was not vaulted in the usual way, was the great hall, 46 feet long by 17 feet wide, with a pointed stone roof, which was built against and concealed the sedilia already described of the earlier keep. The existence of these would not have been known had not this stone roof been in a ruinous condition and almost all fallen down. This is a singular instance of the small respect paid to the works of an earlier generation by their successors. It may however be observed, as so far excusing their obliteration, that the sedilia were not on a level suitable for the new floor.
A new seat was constructed immediately under the old at a suitable level, but of a much inferior design.
The buildings along the west curtain were three and four stories in height, reached by two handsome staircases, the whole of considerable magnificence. The workmanship of the masonry is not surpassed in Scotland. The stone of the south staircase, and the castle generally, is of a red sandstone, while the north staircase is of a yellow freestone.
The kitchen is against this curtain wall, which was slapped through to make room for its chimney. This is of good dimensions, being about 12 feet by 8 feet, with the sink and drain alongside.
The space already referred to at the south-east angle as having been included in the castle by the additions, has a round tower on the south face provided with shot-holes. The whole buildings here were vaulted on the ground floor, and consisted of two stories above ; but, at a still later period, they seem to have been heightened in order to contain an attic floor, the portion added being indicated by the masonry, set against the tall chimney of the east gable, but not bonded into it, as also by the grooves cut for two roofs against the opposite wall of the heightened keep. The two stories just mentioned also extended over the entrance gateway, and probably contained the portcullis-rooms.
There are remains of buildings outside the east curtain wall between the castle and the ravine already referred to. These are supposed to have been the chapel, but they are in too ruinous a condition to admit of certainty on this point
About the beginning of the fourteenth century the barony of Ballinbreich passed, by the marriage of the daughter of Sir Alexander Abernethy, to Sir Andrew Leslie of Leslie and Rothes, Aberdeenshire, and it was probably shortly after this date (1312) that the castle was begun. The family held other properties in Fifeshire, and at Leslie, in the centre of the county, they had a residence which, in the course of time, became their principal abode, and Ballinbreich was allowed to fall into ruin.
As the Earls of Rothes (to which title the family were raised in the middle of the fifteenth century), the Leslies of Ballinbreich played a not unimportant part in the history of Scotland. --
The Castellated and Domestic Architecture of Scotland by David Macgibbon and Thomas Ross 1889